Stunning Ornate Burmese Kalaga (Tapestry) of a Pair of Water Buffalo. Green Silk, Black Silk, Black Velvet, covered in heavy bead and sequin work with shwe-chi-doe (gold thread). Measures 25"x18". Weight 1 pd. Kalaga is the traditional name for embroidered tapestries done entirely by hand from Myanmar (Burma). The ancient kalagas were made for the royal palaces. These are intricately embroidered using sequins, beads, colored stones, small pearls, coral, braids, metallic threads on linen, velvet, silk or cotton. Gold and silver threads, called "shwe-chi-doe" in Burmese were attached to the backing of a cloth and decorated with beads. Items made using the "shwe-chi-doe" method were and still are expensive because they were made from real gold, making them prohibitively expensive for the common person or every day use.

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